Harassed by Buyer and I Want to Share Some Experiences and Alerts as my account is also in danger now

[saddam2016]

Guys I got a very bad experience while working with Fiverr. Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me. I wanted to share my bad experience and biased decisions made by Fiverr.

A new kind of trick and scam is emerging and sellers need to be aware of it. About a month ago I worked for a client who gave work and answered all of my queries until the work was delivered. When I delivered work she opened a direct dispute did not even call any revision. I repeatedly asked why she did that. She did not respond. I had no option but to cancel it. I called help from support they did nothing but copy and pasting message of we are sorry you had bad experience blaa bla bla. They were not done here. They also moved all of my gigs to last pages and I stopped receiving orders. My first query took them 16 days to respond to me and do nothing. Second query about moving my gigs to last pages is still in process and is in queue now for 9 days. I suffered for nothing this marketplace is all full of ************* scammers now. I reported that buyer they still did nothing to stop her. She scammed me wasted my time and got away by receiving her full money. And I am being penalized and CC don’t care at all. They are customer care for their buyers not for sellers. So sad and the second big and very smart scammer is still need to be discussed yet. He tricked me in such a way that you all will be surprised to hear that. I am just a guest of few days here. I am a culprit because I fought him back.

!MOD NOTE!
Please refrain from using those kind of words in the future

[pythagoras8pi]

Guys I got a very bad experience while working with Fiverr. Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me. I wanted to share my bad experience and biased decisions made by Fiverr.

A new kind of trick and scam is emerging and sellers need to be aware of it. About a month ago I worked for a client who gave work and answered all of my queries until the work was delivered. When I delivered work she opened a direct dispute did not even call any revision. I repeatedly asked why she did that. She did not respond. I had no option but to cancel it. I called help from support they did nothing but copy and pasting message of we are sorry you had bad experience blaa bla bla. They were not done here. They also moved all of my gigs to last pages and I stopped receiving orders. My first query took them 16 days to respond to me and do nothing. Second query about moving my gigs to last pages is still in process and is in queue now for 9 days. I suffered for nothing this marketplace is all full of ************* scammers now. I reported that buyer they still did nothing to stop her. She scammed me wasted my time and got away by receiving her full money. And I am being penalized and CC don’t care at all. They are customer care for their buyers not for sellers. So sad and the second big and very smart scammer is still need to be discussed yet. He tricked me in such a way that you all will be surprised to hear that. I am just a guest of few days here. I am a culprit because I fought him back.

!MOD NOTE!

Please refrain from using those kind of words in the future

Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me.

I really am sorry this is happening to you but why are you 95% sure they will ban you? Was there something wrong with the delivery?

[saddam2016]

Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me.

I really am sorry this is happening to you but why are you 95% sure they will ban you? Was there something wrong with the delivery?

I am so glad you asked brother. There was nothing wrong with the delivery. Everything was ok. The CC supported the buyer by all means and did not listen to what I was saying. Maybe if they must have involved in reading the previous messages with this buyer they should have known that he has trapped me.

[saddam2016]

Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me.

I really am sorry this is happening to you but why are you 95% sure they will ban you? Was there something wrong with the delivery?

Le me explain the whole story here now. Actually the buyer was my old client and he used to give work before each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered. This time he gave work related to data entry I did not have much work at that time these were around 370 rows on excel sheet. He wanted me to update names of topics + finding relevant images for those topics which are free to use + he wanted me to add screenshots of proof that those images are for commercial use. That work was so tough that a normal data entry operator could not have done. Still I accepted and took my time to work the things out so that I can build a good relationship with that buyer later. I delivered it after 10 hours of constant working and guess what was he paying for it? 5$ lolzz. I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future. But after some time he offered me more work this time he offered 40$ and did not mention that these are 40$ for 8 worksheets. He sent a corrupted excel sheet. I tried my best to open it. The sheet did not open. I tried converting it online it still did not open. When I was left with no other option then i asked him to deliver it on google sheets. When I opened the sheet I saw that these were 333 rows and work is the same as it was done before. I thought he has realized that 5$ were so less for previous work that is why he will give me 40$ for this time. I accepted work. He said dont work on live spreadsheet copy paste work on MS excel. I was an idiot I did not realize he will scam me here. I even sent him the sheet before dlivering that work and he said its ok deliver work. When I delivered he said where are other 7 sheets? I said you sent me just one sheet. He sent that google sheet link again. When I opened it then I saw that there were 7 more tabs with rows around 300 to 400. I got shocked and started explaining him what happened here. He did not listen. I said increase money you have tricked me here. He said cancel order. I tried to negotiate but he refused to offer more money. I was already scammed alot before I made my mind to fight back. He opened dispute I declined. After some time CC cancelled my order and put my account under review and client had his money back.

[pythagoras8pi]

Le me explain the whole story here now. Actually the buyer was my old client and he used to give work before each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered. This time he gave work related to data entry I did not have much work at that time these were around 370 rows on excel sheet. He wanted me to update names of topics + finding relevant images for those topics which are free to use + he wanted me to add screenshots of proof that those images are for commercial use. That work was so tough that a normal data entry operator could not have done. Still I accepted and took my time to work the things out so that I can build a good relationship with that buyer later. I delivered it after 10 hours of constant working and guess what was he paying for it? 5$ lolzz. I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future. But after some time he offered me more work this time he offered 40$ and did not mention that these are 40$ for 8 worksheets. He sent a corrupted excel sheet. I tried my best to open it. The sheet did not open. I tried converting it online it still did not open. When I was left with no other option then i asked him to deliver it on google sheets. When I opened the sheet I saw that these were 333 rows and work is the same as it was done before. I thought he has realized that 5$ were so less for previous work that is why he will give me 40$ for this time. I accepted work. He said dont work on live spreadsheet copy paste work on MS excel. I was an idiot I did not realize he will scam me here. I even sent him the sheet before dlivering that work and he said its ok deliver work. When I delivered he said where are other 7 sheets? I said you sent me just one sheet. He sent that google sheet link again. When I opened it then I saw that there were 7 more tabs with rows around 300 to 400. I got shocked and started explaining him what happened here. He did not listen. I said increase money you have tricked me here. He said cancel order. I tried to negotiate but he refused to offer more money. I was already scammed alot before I made my mind to fight back. He opened dispute I declined. After some time CC cancelled my order and put my account under review and client had his money back.

each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered.

I guess this was where the problem started from. The client got used to the low price that they felt it was the norm.

I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future.

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8?? 😕

I guess the client got you when you opted that they share the file off Fiverr. If the first document only contained 1 sheet then all these would maybe fall in your favour.

We can only wait for CS for this

[saddam2016]

each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered.

I guess this was where the problem started from. The client got used to the low price that they felt it was the norm.

I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future.

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8?? 😕

I guess the client got you when you opted that they share the file off Fiverr. If the first document only contained 1 sheet then all these would maybe fall in your favour.

We can only wait for CS for this

The MS excel file he shared was corrupted but google sheet had only one sheet with 333 rows. I did not know he will update it later to harass me later. He even mentioned that I need to work offline on MS excel. It clicked me a bit but I though it must be some kind of business requirement for him. I should have known that he must be updating the sheet to scam me later.

[saddam2016]

each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered.

I guess this was where the problem started from. The client got used to the low price that they felt it was the norm.

I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future.

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8?? 😕

I guess the client got you when you opted that they share the file off Fiverr. If the first document only contained 1 sheet then all these would maybe fall in your favour.

We can only wait for CS for this

He was trying to get his 900 $ work for almost free of cost

[saddam2016]

each time when ever he gives work he pays so so so less as compared to the market value of that work. But I accepted and delivered.

I guess this was where the problem started from. The client got used to the low price that they felt it was the norm.

I made my mind to not accept more of excel sheet orders from him in the future.

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8?? 😕

I guess the client got you when you opted that they share the file off Fiverr. If the first document only contained 1 sheet then all these would maybe fall in your favour.

We can only wait for CS for this

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8??

He made it look like that he will pay 40$ for one sheet with 333 rows but in actual they were 8 sheets of 5$ each. He already knew that I will not accept more work that is why he planned this all. And the way he tricked the system I can say that for sure that he is a professional scammer and he has not done this for the first time. Each time CC must have given him favor as he is a top seller and he use to get away with it almost everytime.

[saddam2016]

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8??

He made it look like that he will pay 40$ for one sheet with 333 rows but in actual they were 8 sheets of 5$ each. He already knew that I will not accept more work that is why he planned this all. And the way he tricked the system I can say that for sure that he is a professional scammer and he has not done this for the first time. Each time CC must have given him favor as he is a top seller and he use to get away with it almost everytime.

It takes me 16 days to approach CC to hear an indirect no message from them. But they replied to that buyerss fake query within an hour. He is a CEO of a company and do not want to hire an employee. But want to be a king on fiveer and get the job done by scamming new sellers like me.

[pythagoras8pi]

You should have stated your new terms with them before proceeding, a job as tedious as you described is worth more than $5 and then multiplied by 8??

He made it look like that he will pay 40$ for one sheet with 333 rows but in actual they were 8 sheets of 5$ each. He already knew that I will not accept more work that is why he planned this all. And the way he tricked the system I can say that for sure that he is a professional scammer and he has not done this for the first time. Each time CC must have given him favor as he is a top seller and he use to get away with it almost everytime.

And the way he tricked the system I can say that for sure that he is a professional scammer and he has not done this for the first time.

Sure!

Just make sure to send the necessary screenshot when contacting CS

[miiila]

You need to screenshot such things (Google sheet with just one tab when you look at it to make your offer, websites with 20 FAQ, only one of which is an actual FAQ, while the other have lorem ipsum content, anything really 😉 ) when you’re working with new buyers/buyers you’re not sure you can trust (just shove the screenshots into a zip folder regularly and keep them for a while, “just in case”).
And always make sure that you write into your offer what exactly the offer is for (for example, “(link to the sheet), 1 tab, xxxx words” - whatever applies in your case).

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

About the response time, faster response time is one of the “rewards” you “unlock” when getting a higher level; since I’m TRS, I also receive responses within a very short time usually, so it makes sense that it’s a “perk” for Top Buyers too.

[saddam2016]

And the way he tricked the system I can say that for sure that he is a professional scammer and he has not done this for the first time.

Sure!

Just make sure to send the necessary screenshot when contacting CS

Just make sure to send the necessary screenshot when contacting CS

I will keep that in mind but I dont expect they will help me. I just wanted to share this post so that other sellers should be aware of such scams. Dont accept any kind of work which is on Google docs or Google spreadsheets. If they will ban me then I will make a new ID and will also post the names of these buyers.

[catwriter]

Just make sure to send the necessary screenshot when contacting CS

I will keep that in mind but I dont expect they will help me. I just wanted to share this post so that other sellers should be aware of such scams. Dont accept any kind of work which is on Google docs or Google spreadsheets. If they will ban me then I will make a new ID and will also post the names of these buyers.

If they will ban me then I will make a new ID

If you create a new account without the permission from Customer Support, that new account will get banned, too.

will also post the names of these buyers.

That’s not allowed, and it wouldn’t really help, either.

[miiila]

Just make sure to send the necessary screenshot when contacting CS

I will keep that in mind but I dont expect they will help me. I just wanted to share this post so that other sellers should be aware of such scams. Dont accept any kind of work which is on Google docs or Google spreadsheets. If they will ban me then I will make a new ID and will also post the names of these buyers.

Why do you think they’d ban you? They don’t ban anyone for a cancelled order, only for violation of terms of service.

[saddam2016]

You need to screenshot such things (Google sheet with just one tab when you look at it to make your offer, websites with 20 FAQ, only one of which is an actual FAQ, while the other have lorem ipsum content, anything really 😉 ) when you’re working with new buyers/buyers you’re not sure you can trust (just shove the screenshots into a zip folder regularly and keep them for a while, “just in case”).

And always make sure that you write into your offer what exactly the offer is for (for example, “(link to the sheet), 1 tab, xxxx words” - whatever applies in your case).

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

About the response time, faster response time is one of the “rewards” you “unlock” when getting a higher level; since I’m TRS, I also receive responses within a very short time usually, so it makes sense that it’s a “perk” for Top Buyers too.

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

You are absolutely right here. That is why I already mentioned that he is a super smart scammer. As he was an old client too I trusted him so much. If I ever get a chance again then I will do my best to be smarter than the buyer. I have one thing in my favor I inboxed the MS excel sheet. He said it is ok deliver it. It contained that sheet of 333 links. Why did not he ask for other 7 tabs at that time??? He was planning to scam from the start. He asked for revision after delivery. Asked for other 7 tabs also later.

[pythagoras8pi]

You need to screenshot such things (Google sheet with just one tab when you look at it to make your offer, websites with 20 FAQ, only one of which is an actual FAQ, while the other have lorem ipsum content, anything really 😉 ) when you’re working with new buyers/buyers you’re not sure you can trust (just shove the screenshots into a zip folder regularly and keep them for a while, “just in case”).

And always make sure that you write into your offer what exactly the offer is for (for example, “(link to the sheet), 1 tab, xxxx words” - whatever applies in your case).

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

About the response time, faster response time is one of the “rewards” you “unlock” when getting a higher level; since I’m TRS, I also receive responses within a very short time usually, so it makes sense that it’s a “perk” for Top Buyers too.

(just shove the screenshots into a zip folder regularly and keep them for a while, “just in case”).

That’s a good point.

[catwriter]

Why do you think they’d ban you? They don’t ban anyone for a cancelled order, only for violation of terms of service.

Why do you think they’d ban you?

The account seems to be gone.

[saddam2016]

Why do you think they’d ban you?

The account seems to be gone.

Because this is not the first time they have favored the buyer. Happened to me for the third time. Even if there was none of my mistake

[uk1000]

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

You are absolutely right here. That is why I already mentioned that he is a super smart scammer. As he was an old client too I trusted him so much. If I ever get a chance again then I will do my best to be smarter than the buyer. I have one thing in my favor I inboxed the MS excel sheet. He said it is ok deliver it. It contained that sheet of 333 links. Why did not he ask for other 7 tabs at that time??? He was planning to scam from the start. He asked for revision after delivery. Asked for other 7 tabs also later.

What did your offer to him say, roughly? Was it specific enough about how much you’d do? Did it say you’d do 1 worksheet and around 300 rows of data entry?

I agree with miiila that being specific enough in any future offers is one of the best things.

Also maybe having something in your FAQ about any limitations might help. But if they ask for way too much work for the price I’d decline the work in future.

[mariashtelle1]

Guys I got a very bad experience while working with Fiverr. Right now my account is under review and I am 95% sure that they will ban me. I wanted to share my bad experience and biased decisions made by Fiverr.

A new kind of trick and scam is emerging and sellers need to be aware of it. About a month ago I worked for a client who gave work and answered all of my queries until the work was delivered. When I delivered work she opened a direct dispute did not even call any revision. I repeatedly asked why she did that. She did not respond. I had no option but to cancel it. I called help from support they did nothing but copy and pasting message of we are sorry you had bad experience blaa bla bla. They were not done here. They also moved all of my gigs to last pages and I stopped receiving orders. My first query took them 16 days to respond to me and do nothing. Second query about moving my gigs to last pages is still in process and is in queue now for 9 days. I suffered for nothing this marketplace is all full of ************* scammers now. I reported that buyer they still did nothing to stop her. She scammed me wasted my time and got away by receiving her full money. And I am being penalized and CC don’t care at all. They are customer care for their buyers not for sellers. So sad and the second big and very smart scammer is still need to be discussed yet. He tricked me in such a way that you all will be surprised to hear that. I am just a guest of few days here. I am a culprit because I fought him back.

!MOD NOTE!

Please refrain from using those kind of words in the future

Oki doki, let’s go step by step what you did wrong.

I had no option but to cancel it

That is youR first mistake. Fiverr CC can’t do anything after you agreed to mutually cancel the order. That’s it, nothing to investigate and all they can do is sorry you had a bad experience.

They also moved all of my gigs to last pages and I stopped receiving orders.

We all go through that. ALL OF US. All cancellations affect our “ranking” and position where gigs are shown. Fiverr algorithm decides where and how to show gigs based on the performance and fiverr CS can not fix that just because you want it.

But I accepted and delivered

You didn’t have to agree for 5$ but you did.

I thought he has realized that 5$ were so less for previous work that is why he will give me 40$ for this time

Why would she realise that if you agreed for that work and never discussed that with her?

**Guess what? If you multiply 8 by 5 =40$. **

8 sheets for 5$ is 40$ in total and that’s exactly what your buyer offered you. She took your previous price you agreed for and multiplied by the amount of work she had this time.

On the last point: your account restriction, you still didn’t tell us what exactly you were banned for. They sent you an email telling you what tule you violated.

Everything you are describing here is a normal freelancing process and we all go through working with difficult clients, it’s all about how you handle it and in this case it is unfortunately on you and solely you not being able to manage properly your clients.

[saddam2016]

What did your offer to him say, roughly? Was it specific enough about how much you’d do? Did it say you’d do 1 worksheet and around 300 rows of data entry?

I agree with miiila that being specific enough in any future offers is one of the best things.

Also maybe having something in your FAQ about any limitations might help. But if they ask for way too much work for the price I’d decline the work in future.

What did your offer to him say, roughly? Was it specific enough about how much you’d do? Did it say you’d do 1 worksheet and around 300 rows of data entry?

He just said that " I have another project of 40 dollars" and attached the corrupted excel sheet.I asked him to deliver it again in old format it still did not open. Then I asked for google sheets.

[miiila]

If you have no kind of proof at all that he added tabs later, he can just as well say they were there, and you must have not noticed them, in which case he would still have paid a lousy price perhaps, but not scammed you, as you set or accepted that price, and support can’t know if he added the tabs later to deceive you, or if you just didn’t notice them when you checked and sent your custom offer.

You are absolutely right here. That is why I already mentioned that he is a super smart scammer. As he was an old client too I trusted him so much. If I ever get a chance again then I will do my best to be smarter than the buyer. I have one thing in my favor I inboxed the MS excel sheet. He said it is ok deliver it. It contained that sheet of 333 links. Why did not he ask for other 7 tabs at that time??? He was planning to scam from the start. He asked for revision after delivery. Asked for other 7 tabs also later.

Well, it’s a pity that the buyer wasn’t worth your trust, after all, but it happens, there are posts from sellers about “old” customers suddenly making a U-turn.

My recommendation is to chalk it up as “learning the hard way” (here, we call it “paying apprentice’s due” - because in the “good old times”, apprentices actually didn’t get but had to pay money to their master for being allowed to learn from them ;)), to continue, and to add to your “precaution tactics” as you go, and as things happen.

I screenshot the hell out of everything, I have screenshots of all deliveries I make too, which show that I attached the files, “just in case” of that “empty delivery bug” happening. It takes a little bit of time but gives peace of mind and you get used to it and almost do it automatically after a while.

[saddam2016]

Oki doki, let’s go step by step what you did wrong.

I had no option but to cancel it

That is youR first mistake. Fiverr CC can’t do anything after you agreed to mutually cancel the order. That’s it, nothing to investigate and all they can do is sorry you had a bad experience.

They also moved all of my gigs to last pages and I stopped receiving orders.

We all go through that. ALL OF US. All cancellations affect our “ranking” and position where gigs are shown. Fiverr algorithm decides where and how to show gigs based on the performance and fiverr CS can not fix that just because you want it.

But I accepted and delivered

You didn’t have to agree for 5$ but you did.

I thought he has realized that 5$ were so less for previous work that is why he will give me 40$ for this time

Why would she realise that if you agreed for that work and never discussed that with her?

**Guess what? If you multiply 8 by 5 =40$. **

8 sheets for 5$ is 40$ in total and that’s exactly what your buyer offered you. She took your previous price you agreed for and multiplied by the amount of work she had this time.

On the last point: your account restriction, you still didn’t tell us what exactly you were banned for. They sent you an email telling you what tule you violated.

Everything you are describing here is a normal freelancing process and we all go through working with difficult clients, it’s all about how you handle it and in this case it is unfortunately on you and solely you not being able to manage properly your clients.

mariashtelle1:

I had no option but to cancel it

That is youR first mistake. Fiverr CC can’t do anything after you agreed to mutually cancel the order. That’s it, nothing to investigate and all they can do is sorry you had a bad experience.

This was the old case this is not related to this one. She was the one who received work and opened the dispute. The case we are discussing here is another one. In this case if chose to fight back and impact was even severe than before

[saddam2016]

Well, it’s a pity that the buyer wasn’t worth your trust, after all, but it happens, there are posts from sellers about “old” customers suddenly making a U-turn.

My recommendation is to chalk it up as “learning the hard way” (here, we call it “paying apprentice’s due” - because in the “good old times”, apprentices actually didn’t get but had to pay money to their master for being allowed to learn from them ;)), to continue, and to add to your “precaution tactics” as you go, and as things happen.

I screenshot the hell out of everything, I have screenshots of all deliveries I make too, which show that I attached the files, “just in case” of that “empty delivery bug” happening. It takes a little bit of time but gives peace of mind and you get used to it and almost do it automatically after a while.

My recommendation is to chalk it up as “learning the hard way” (here, we call it “paying apprentice’s due” - because in the “good old times”, apprentices actually didn’t get but had to pay money to their master for being allowed to learn from them ;)), to continue, and to add to your “precaution tactics” as you go, and as things happen.

I am really greatful to you madam. If I will chose to work again with Fiverr then this time I will be way more careful. I really want to share the names of these buyers. But i still have 5% hope left that they will not ban me

[mariashtelle1]

saddam2016:

I had no option but to cancel it

That is youR first mistake. Fiverr CC can’t do anything after you agreed to mutually cancel the order. That’s it, nothing to investigate and all they can do is sorry you had a bad experience.

This was the old case this is not related to this one. She was the one who received work and opened the dispute. The case we are discussing here is another one. In this case if chose to fight back and impact was even severe than before

The case we are discussing here is another one.

This was the old case this is not related to this one.

You described both cases here and that means that you wanted to discuss them both and and replied on it for both of your cases.